SAP to highlight SME's ICT potential as platinum sponsor for COMEX conference 2013

Themed Empowering SMEs through ICT, the Conference will take place on 24 March 2013 at the Grand Hyatt, Muscat.

The event is held under the patronage of e.oman and organised by OITE Conferences.

"We are pleased to support the COMEX Conference as a Platinum Sponsor," Gergi Abboud, Managing Director, SAP Gulf.

"Information technology is a key pillar for SMEs to become a prime engine of economic growth in Oman. The advances in business-oriented solutions for Mobility, Analytics and Cloud, are driving the competitiveness of SMEs by furnishing business leaders and entrepreneurs with the best in class technology innovations needed to gain clear insights of the business dynamics at their finger-tips, any time, any place. We call it the 'the power of small'," he added.

Headquartered in Walldorf, Germany, with locations in more than 130 countries, SAP AG is the world leader in enterprise software and software-related services. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device - SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 232,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably.

SMEs are critical to SAP's long-term growth strategy, which includes doubling its addressable market, reaching 1 billion people and achieving global revenues of €20bn by 2015. Nearly 80% of SAP's customers are small businesses and midsize companies.

SAP solutions for SMEs include SAP Business One, a single integrated solution for successfully managing small businesses, which gained over 14 customers per working day in 2011 (35,000+ customers to date); and SAP Business All-in-One, a customizable and extensible solution for midsize companies with deep industry best practices built in. Currently, there are over 1,100 partner-developed add-on solutions for SAP Business One and SAP Business All-in-One.

"SAP understands the unique needs of small and midsize businesses and entrepreneurs," added Abboud. "This is a company that was started 40 years ago by five entrepreneurs and is now a trusted and reliable partner for SMEs with a long-term growth plan," he concluded.

"We want to see SMEs that are more agile and able to operate around the clock. We want to see SMEs with enhanced visibility and decision making that can not only lead to better employee productivity, customer engagements and responsiveness, but also help them keep pace with larger companies and gain a competitive edge in their marketplace," he further added.

SAP is investing heavily in Oman, and last year opened a new office in Muscat. The country is set to feature strongly in a major Middle East and North Africa (MENA) expansion plan over the next three years. The MENA region is at the heart of SAP's long-term global growth strategy. The ability of ICT innovation to take SMEs to new heights will be discussed throughout COMEX 2013.